EPA Provides Nearly $3.8 Million to Communities in New Jersey to Support Assessments, Cleanups and Revitalization of Contaminated Properties

(New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is providing nearly $3.8 million to Atlantic City, Camden, Jersey City, Maurice River Township, Newark and Trenton, New Jersey to help those communities clean up abandoned and contaminated sites. The funding was awarded through EPA’s Brownfields Program, which helps communities assess, clean up, redevelop and reuse contaminated properties. Brownfields are properties where moderate contamination threatens environmental quality and public health and can interfere with productive re-use of the sites. “Cleaning up brownfields protects people’s health and the environment, revitalizes neighborhoods and creates jobs,” said Judith A. Enck, EPA Regional Administrator. “Brownfields cleanups and the reuse of formerly contaminated properties improve the lives of those who live and work in these communities.”

The EPA’s Brownfields funding will be awarded communities in New Jersey as follows:

Atlantic City – $400,000$200,000 to clean up hazardous substances

· Cleanup of the South Boulevard Promenade site at South Boulevard and North Raleigh Avenue. The one-acre site is undeveloped land that was contaminated with heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and organic contaminants when contaminated material was used to raise the elevation of the site and the surrounding area. Grant funds will also be used to support community outreach.

$200,000 for petroleum cleanups

· Cleanup of the Riverside Business Park site located along North Riverside Drive and Absecon Boulevard. The 11-acre site was home to multiple gas stations and restaurants, and a steel manufacturing facility was located on the central portion of the property. The soil is contaminated with metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds. The funds will also be used to conduct community involvement activities.

· Six initial environmental assessments and three follow-up assessments and community outreach.

$200,000 to assess sites for petroleum

· Six initial environmental assessments and five follow-up assessments and community outreach.

$600,000 to clean up sites with hazardous substances

· Cleanup of Lots 7, 8, and 9 of the Harrison Avenue Landfill, located on the Delaware Riverfront at the corner of East State Street and Harrison Avenue. Each of the three lots is part of an 83-acre dump site that was owned by the city from 1952 to 1971. The site is currently vacant and not in active use.

· Environmental issues at the site include soil and ground water contamination and landfill gas. The primary contaminants of concern in soil are chlorinated volatile organic compounds. Grant funds also will be used to conduct community outreach activities.

$608,439 and $391,560 for Camden’s revolving loan programs

· Revolving loan funds for the cleanup of two sites with hazardous substances and petroleum respectively. The funds will be used to capitalize a revolving loan fund from which the Camden Redevelopment Agency will provide loans and grants to support cleanup activities.

· The Camden Redevelopment Agency anticipates providing funds for four hazardous substances and five petroleum loans, and three hazardous substances and three petroleum sub-grants. Grant funds will also be used for community outreach.

· Four initial and three follow-up environmental site assessments and to conduct community outreach.

$200,000 to assess sites potentially contaminated by petroleum

· Four initial and five follow-up environmental site assessments and to conduct community outreach.

Maurice River Township, NJ – $200,000

· Cleanup of the Sapello Foundry site located at 65 Broadway Street. Originally developed as an iron pump manufacturing foundry, the site has been vacant since 1993 and is contaminated with metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PCBs, and hexavalent chromium. Grant funds also will be used to support community outreach.

Newark, NJ – $600,000

· Clean up of Lot 15 and Lot 53 of the former Orbis Site located at 55 Virginia Street, and Lots 41 and 43 of the former Orbis Products Corporation Facility located at 47-63 McClellan Street. The lots are on the site of an inactive chemical manufacturing facility that has been abandoned since at least 1996. The soil and ground water are contaminated with volatile and semi-volatile contaminants and hazardous waste. Grant funds also will be used to support community outreach.

Trenton, NJ – $200,000

· Cleanup of the Scarpati site located at 10 Nottingham Way. Commercial development of the property began in the late 1920s. The site has been used as an automobile repair shop, gasoline station, and storage facility for scrap metal recycling, as well as for automobile storage and used automobile and truck sales. The site is contaminated with PCBs, metals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

The EPA has announced a total of more than $62.5 million in new investments across the country that will redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and help create jobs while protecting public health.

Since its inception, EPA’s brownfields investments have leveraged more than $19 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding from a variety of public and private sources and have created approximately 87,000 jobs. The 240 grantees receiving grants through the Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund and Cleanup Grants programs include tribes and communities in 45 states across the country.